America needs to start getting behind industrial hemp as a raw material.  No, you can’t get high off the stuff, though our brain-dead politicians continue to confuse the bong loading variety with industrial hemp which is used to make clothing, rope, plastic, biofuel, and even food.  Hemp is one of the fastest growing sources of biomass around and its propagation doesn’t require fancy soil, fertilizers or pesticides.  U.S. manufacturers are forced to import hemp, or hemp products, from places like China, Canada or France.

These stylish, vegan, hemp skate shoes (above) from iPath are a fine example of a product created with fast growing hemp…they’re durable and they look great, too.

these men’s skate shoes are $49.99 (marked down from $72) @ shoesteal.com